Tax strategies

Snodgrass, Dunlap and Co. plans to merge its office in Iola, Kan., with Jarred, Gilmore & Philips, an accounting firm based in Chanute, Kan., on the first of the year.

Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. said it is merging in Daniel Ryan & Co. on Jan. 1, adding between 10 and 16 professionals to its staff and giving KLR more expertise in tax planning.

The Internal Revenue Service said the upcoming tax-filing season would start on time in mid-January, except for up to 13.5 million taxpayers who will have to wait until Feb. 11 if they need to file any of five forms affected by the late enactment of a patch for the alternative minimum tax.

Wesley Snipes' tax evasion trial will occur next month in Ocala, Fla., even though the actor's lawyers claim he won't be able to receive a fair trial in the city because of pervasive racism.

The Internal Revenue Service has told FedEx that it has been misclassifying its delivery drivers as independent contractors and is ordering the shipping company to pay back taxes and penalties.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has issued a ruling in a tax shelter case that could have far-reaching implications in similar cases.

An appeals court judge has ordered that a tax protestor is entitled to a new trial because he was denied the opportunity for expert testimony from his psychiatrist.

Texas plans to begin imposing a $5-per-customer fee at strip clubs across the state starting in the New Year, in what some are referring to as a "pole tax."

Howard, Wershbale & Co. said it has combined practices with Edward Lowe, a CPA who formerly worked for Ball & Associates.

The Internal Revenue Service has selected 10 new members for its Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council, a forum in which outsiders can discuss tax administration issues with IRS officials.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has announced his tax plan, saying he would permanently repeal the alternative minimum tax and make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

The traveling secretary of the New York Yankees confessed in court that he did not report $53,350 in tip income he had received over five years from players and coaches.

Web-based sales tax management software service provider Avalara said it has agreed to acquire New Horizons Systems, a provider of business geographic and tax jurisdiction assignment software.

Just in time for the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service has expanded its online rebuttal of frivolous tax arguments to provide some amusing holiday reading.

President Bush signed into law a one-year patch for the alternative minimum tax, in addition to a $555-billion omnibus spending bill to fund government operations through 2008.

An IRS manager and his wife were arrested as part of the widening D.C. property tax scam that has led to the arrests of 10 people so far.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new tax form for employees who have been misclassified as independent contractors.

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, and 2008 presidential hopeful, is hoping to gain the support of tax-reform advocates by promoting the Fair Tax, which abolishes the Internal Revenue Service as well as all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes, and replaces them with a single federal retail sales tax.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued an updated version of Form 990, which charities are required to file annually to retain their tax-exempt status, and is giving small tax-exempt organizations time to adjust.

The House has again passed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, an effort to help people whose homes have been foreclosed by canceling taxes on any mortgage debt they have been forgiven.